Month: February 2017

Welcome to Three Book Thursday! This is the day on the blog when we re-cap the children’s books we’ve been into lately. It’s not always three books, but we call it Three Book Thursday in celebration of not stopping at two, but instead saying, “Yes, we will read just one more book.”

We had a good time studying Colonial America in January, and found two adorable and educational picture books that are great for younger grades.

A Horse’s Tale: A Colonial Williamsburg Adventure – The rhymes, the soft but vibrant animal illustrations, and the simple plot of this book made my children hardly realize they were hearing a story that illustrated all the different jobs people held in Colonial Williamsburg. The story is about a lonely horse and how the townspeople rally to cheer him up. We studied the blacksmith, the tailor, and other professions in our text book, but this is the book that made it all come to life. I would read A Horse’s Tale for fun any day, but if you’re studying colonial times, it’s a must read! (And now I really want to visit Williamsburg!)

Homespun Sarah – This beautiful, poem-book describes the life of a rural colonial girl, and is a great counterbalance to the colonial books set in towns. Sarah is the oldest girl in a family of four, and her life of picking berries, cooking over the fire, shoo-ing away crows from the corn, and many other tasks looks both challenging and picturesque in the illustrations of this book. Author Verla Kay has written a wealth of great historical picture books! If you are ever at a loss for what to read for a certain time period, start with her books.

I chose both these books for their colonial setting, but we ended up loving them for their own sake. Pick them up if you get a chance, and don’t forget to tell me what you’ve been reading with little ones lately!

It was World Read Aloud Day yesterday and I totally meant to celebrate here on the blog by posting about our favorite picture books of late, but life got a little busy with nesting and seeing friends…and now we get to keep on celebrating! Kind of like when you get sick on your actual birthday so you get another birthday day…ok, whatever, I’m late, but I’m still excited to tell you about our favorite read alouds of January/February!

Bartholomew The Bossy, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat – Have a kid who tends to be bossy? This would be a great book to read together. Having a story as a frame of reference for a problem is invaluable for children, and saves a lot of explaining for parents. I may have said, “Don’t be Bartholomew” a few times today….It’s a bit wordy for very young kids, but great for ages 4 and up.

The Flying Dragon Room, Audrey Wood – My two younger children (ages 2 and 5) ask for this book every single day. It’s a very imaginative story about an underground series of rooms invented by a young boy and filled with fantastic things to see or do. For example, I think I might like a “jumping room” somewhere in my house.

Sidney and Norman, Phil Vischer – We read this for the first time on Valentine’s Day. My 7-year-old daughter read it aloud to me and my five-year-old son and it’s a good thing she was the one reading because I was the one crying. I’m not even sure how to describe the story. Yes, it’s about two pigs who live next door and the different ways they have experienced life, up until their own private meetings with God. Seeing my son’s eyes light up at one part and marvel at how much God loved one of the characters was too precious for words. If you’re a Veggie Tales fan, it’s a must read. If you’re not a Veggie Tales fan but you would love to bring God’s love into real life for your kids, it’s also a must read. It’s a bit lengthy, so probably best for ages 5-10.

Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – We are zipping through Beverly Cleary’s books this year. The Ramona books are so great as audio books! Channing Stockard narrates them and does so much better of a job than I would! I’ve read Henry Huggins and The Mouse and the Motorcycle to the kids myself, and they were both well liked. The chapters are way too long, though!

Where’s My Teddy? and Little Baby Buttercup are our for the two-year-old crowd picks of the week. Violet loves these books to pieces. I think the illustrations for Little Baby Buttercup are adorable. They make me wistful for the time when I had just one little toddler and was so engaged and cheerful all the time…now I’m pretty much a grumpy nag all day every day. But I digress. Either of these books is a fun read for tiny tots.

So, enjoy the day after World Read Aloud Day and keep reading with your kids going all year long!

February is sweeping by me. Our fourth child is due on the last day of this month, and I think it’s fair to say the nesting instinct has kicked in pretty hard in the last week. I can’t stop thinking that everything has to be cleaned/painted/de-cluttered now, “just in case” the baby comes early. I’ve never had a baby early, so this sort of thinking is probably unwarranted. Still, I’ve managed to sit still long enough to read some pretty great books in the last month. Today, I’m joining Modern Mrs. Darcy and friends again for Quick Lit, a feature that gives us a chance to catch each other up on what we’ve been reading in the past month.

(Psst…check back for some kids’ book reviews coming this Thursday!)

Fiction

The Girl Who Drank The Moon, Kelly Barnhill – Have you heard about this book yet? It’s a storyteller’s treat that whisked me into another world every time I cracked open the book. I loved the characters, the setting, the lyrical prose…pretty much everything about it. It’s completely worth all the publicity and fan love it’s getting. If you’re considering giving this to your grade school aged child, I might suggest reading it for yourself first. It’s very emotionally tense at times. Though quite unique, it did remind me of Shannon Hale’s Book of A Thousand Daysor Juliet Marillier’s Wildwood Dancing. I highly recommend it to anyone. 4.5/5 stars (Also, this book is this year’s Newberry Award Winner, so it’s actually possible I’m not the only one raving about this book).

The One-In-A-Million Boy, Monica Wood – A story about an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a very old woman, this story was sometimes sweet and sad, often awkward, almost charming, and mostly hopeful about how friendships with all sorts of people – young, old, poor, rich, religious, successful…all sorts – keep a person fully human and alive. Wood does an amazing job of describing characters who become very, very real as you read. Some parts of the plot seem fairly unrealistic, but hey, if you want all your books to read like real life, maybe just stick to real life. I don’t mind a book veering off into unlikely circumstances, as long as it flows with the rest of the story. It wasn’t perfectly constructed, but it was still a good read. 3/5 stars

I Let You Go, Clare Mackintosh – Though this was a well written crime novel with a huge plot twist that you can’t even guess though you’re thinking the whole time, “I heard there is a huge plot twist,” I wasn’t a big fan of this book because of very vivid descriptions of domestic violence and a good bit of language. Mackintosh writes from her professional life experience as a former police officer. She speaks to an all-too-true issue in our world. If you’re a fan of The Girl on the Train (the book), you’ll probably like this one, too. I’m beginning to understand I’m simply not a crime novel fan, so I should probably stop trying. 2.5/5 stars.

non-fiction

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House’s Dirty Little Secrets, Dana White – White is the author of the blog and podcast A Slob Comes Clean, and she knows of what she speaks. (She’s also pretty funny). If you’ve read all manner of “get your house in shape” books and never once really hit on anything that worked for you, this might be your book. It’s for those of us have what Dana calls “slob vision” or basically blindness to messes until they get really bad. Like, blind to a sink full of dishes until you have no plates to eat off of. If you consider yourself a person who likes projects instead of a person who manages everyday details, this book will definitely give you some ideas on how to be a good home manager without making you feel like you have to change your entire personality to do so. I’ve learned that personality-wise I’m more on the naturally tidy side of the spectrum of home managers. Not that I am on top of everything all the time (um…no), but I’m more likely to walk through a room and take a few things that are out of place with me to put away as I go about other tasks than to ignore a mess until it becomes a project. I still enjoyed White’s perspective and it was illuminating reading a little about how peoples’ personalities make them approach maintaining a home differently. The power of habits plays a large role in White’s approach, and habits are always a fascinating study in my book. (Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before is an awesome book on the topic of habits, as well).

And now it’s your turn to let me know what you’re reading! February is a great month to hit the books, wouldn’t you say?

Have you ever been to a favorite things party? I’ve been to just one. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a party where each guest brings a certain number of one of their favorite things. This is usually just a $5 item or less, like a favorite candy bar or gift card to a great coffee shop. Then everyone swaps with other guests, and you leave with five or so of your friends’ favorite things. Last spring I went to this party, and I sat enthralled as each of the women in that living room went around and explained what favorite thing they brought and why she liked it so much. Each item was a tiny window into that person’s personality and life. People brought everything from dry shampoo to cups full of limeade (yesss) to a sweet syrup brought all the way from Germany. It was fun, but I was sad. Why? Because I had no ideas about what to bring to that party. How sad that I couldn’t think of any small thing I really liked! What was wrong with me?

Since that night, when I brought an assortment of not-very-special notecards from the dollar bin at Michael’s to a favorite things party, I’ve been keeping tiny lists around me–in journals, on my phone–of my current favorite things. Because if it’s the little things in life that mean so much, I should probably be aware of those little things. I’m happy to tell you, I recently got to ten items on that favorite things list! Success! That’s when I saw that Modern Mrs. Darcy is hosting a Things That Are Saving My Life blog post link up related to all the things that are getting us through this winter. The timing…wow. Plus, I royally hate winter. Now is the time I can finally share those things on my list! And they are absolutely all saving my life this winter.

Method Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner – My favorite all purpose cleaner ever. I discovered it when we were cleaning the house we are currently living in after buying it in sad shape. We’re talking pets-gone-wild sad shape, with a side of wild-animal-infestation to boot. Everything that didn’t get ripped out of the house got a coat of new paint or got sprayed with this. It smells so good and cleans/de-greases quite nicely. I am both happy and sad to report that I still use it daily. Happy, because I really do love it. Sad, because it means the potty training of our youngest isn’t going quite as smoothly as we would like…

Mary Kay Shea Butter Satin Lips Balm + Blistex Orange Mango Blast – I just discovered the shea butter balm four days ago, and it is awesome. I put it on in the morning, and don’t feel the need to apply any kind of lip balm ’til the evening. Yes, it lasts that long. However! I couldn’t give up the citrus smell of the Blistex Orange Mango Blas. The citrus smell of this chapstick right under my nose eases pregnancy-related nausea a good bit. That nausea has kicked in again even though I’m in my third trimester because of heavy doses of iron supplements and prenatal vitamins. So this is my one-two chapped lips + nausea punch. If that doesn’t make sense, just go for the shea butter. It really is lovely.

Neutrogena Grapefruit Cleanser – Are you sensing a theme here? I promise, not all of my favorite things are citrus related. I’ve been using this cleanser for about 10 months and it’s awesome for my skin, which is neither oily nor dry but prone to break outs. I don’t use it as directed, though. Instead of wetting my face first, I rub a dime size blob onto my dry face, brush my teeth, and then wet my face and scrub it around a little bit before washing it off. (I learned to do this and why in the very informative book The Acne Cure.) While I still have a blemish or two occasionally, I do not get “breakouts” or dry skin. And this cleanser does smell nice.

The Bunny Clock” – This gadget has been saving my life for the last three years. You could take all of the other items on this list from me, but not this one. I would weep. When our second born was almost two, he would get out of bed as early as 5:30 in the morning, and be up for the day. As Dame Judi Dench announces in Pride and Prejudice, “This is not to be borne!” So we found this thing (I can’t remember how), ordered it off of Amazon even though it was a whopping $50 at the time, and never regretted it one iota. It is worth its weight in platinum. If you have a small child that you’re struggling to teach to stay in bed until a decent hour in the morning, I cannot recommend this clock more.

Blendtec Classic 570 – I’ve never had a blender before that costs more than $40. When our third cheapo one in ten years died, I decided it was time to do some research. My husband and I found reviews stating that Blendtec blenders work very well, almost comparably to a Vitamix or one of those $400-600 ones, but for about half the price. Then my very savvy husband also found a thread on slickdeals.net informing shoppers that TJ Maxx had recently been selling them for $150, brand new. Hello, bright red Blendtec on my counter, and thank you very much TJ Maxx! The smoothies I’ve been making since getting this blender are ten times better than any I’ve made before, which of course means I’m gulping down more fruits and veggies than ever before. If that isn’t a good winter blues beater, I don’t know what is! And my favorite smoothie recipes can be found on Monica Swanson’s site. They are delicious.

Rooibos Tea – Two months ago, I would have told you I hate to drink tea. Unless my throat felt like it had been rubbed with rough grade sand paper. Then I might force myself to drink some lemon tea or something herbal and fruity like that. Then my sister brought a friend home from South Africa over Christmas who told us about Rooibos Tea. I found some at World Market and promptly fell in love. It is so delicious. Apparently there are a zillion-and-one health benefits, too, but I don’t even care. I “take my tea” with a bit of honey and a splash of milk. It’s like warm, liquid silk. I drink a cup or two on cold days. (Hey, it’s caffeine free and good for me!)(P.S. Thanks, Anika!)

The little ones using my beloved throw early one morning.

Sunbeam electric throw – My very thoughtful husband bought this for me for Christmas. I loooove it. It gets me out of bed early in the morning and onto the couch with my coffee, my journal, Bible, and notebook. Which brings me to number 8…

Spiral Notebooks – I adore spiral notebooks. I have been scribbling in them for over fifteen years. I write to-do lists, schedules, project plans, reminders, blog ideas…everything. Yes, I know there’s an app for that. But I am a pen to paper girl, despite writing a blog, and I can’t do without the process of putting my thoughts through my pen with my own hand. It transfers them from obscure to concrete.

My Treadmill (which is no longer in production) – Got my treadmill eleven years ago with my first paycheck after college. Loved it. Left it. Or, I should say, had to give it away because we downsized homes five years ago. As blessed providence would have it, right when we were moving into a larger house, our friends we gave it to were downsizing themselves. It is mine again! I know it may seem fake to say you love your treadmill (Hey, you’re being unreal! No one loves a treadmill!), but I really do. I love walking or running (when I’m not pregnant) on it and listening to audio books on Overdrive or podcasts on Stitcher. I love feeling my body working hard. I love that I can use it at night after the kids are in bed. Do I prefer the outdoors? Most days, yes. But being able to take a good, uphill walk without leaving the house is invaluable at this stage of life. I am a much happier mother and wife when I am getting exercise. I guess you could say this thing is saving my whole family’s life this winter.

The Book Depository – You knew I couldn’t stay away from being bookish for long! Books absolutely keep me sane during the winter, and especially older books. A friend told me about this site a long time ago, but I totally forgot to check it out, and then another friend told me about it again, so I finally pulled it up on my computer and my bank account has been suffering ever since. Just kidding, I only bought two books (The Baker’s Daughter and The Blue Castle) but I don’t see my relationship with The Book Depository ending any time soon. Free shipping and old books! Winter is redeemed. (Also, if I hadn’t been so out of touch with my favorite things last spring, everyone would have received a copy of The Blue Castle at that party.)

Of course, there are three “things” always saving my life that I felt too obvious to name: coffee, library, husband. And it doesn’t hurt that we’ve had a slew of 70-degree days this past month. (Now’s the time when readers everywhere say, “You have no right to hate winter! No right!”). But 50-degree highs and rain are coming back this weekend, and I will be relying on all these things to see me through February.